SCORE! — Fairmont Area’s Hannah Goerndt (behind net) signals to teammate Bella Larson (far left) that Larson’s shot beat Morris/Benson Area goalie Ava Breuer for a goal during hockey action Saturday in Fairmont. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Hannah Goerndt and Bella Larson triggered Fairmont Area’s point production, while netminder Hadley Artz stymied Morris/Benson Area in the overtime to salvage a 3-all tie for the hometown Cardinals on Saturday.

Hannah Goerndt netted two goals, Larson supplied one goal and one assist, while Hadley Artz recorded a game-best 41 saves to help offset Karlie Bruns’ two goals and Kortney Sanasack’s two helpers for the visiting Storm during non-league hockey action at Martin County Arena.

“Hannah Goerndt stepped up and provided an offensive spark that we really needed today,” said Fairmont Area head coach Eric Householder. “We showed some tenacity by answering each of their (the Storm’s) goals to keep the score close.”

After MBA’s Saide Koehler received a fortuitous vertical carom with her chipped shot off of Hadley Artz’s leg pads for the contest’s only goal of the opening frame, Hannah Goerndt matched Koehler’s performance during the second segment.

Goerndt corraled the loose puck near the blue line, veered right to left around a Storm defender, juked right and drilled a liner inside the right pipe for the Cardinals’ equalizer with 3:13 remaining in the middle period.

Bruns and Sanasack later worked their icy connection to perfection to open the third frame to restore a one-goal lead for the Storm. Sanasack spotted Bruns at the top of the slot and the MBA junior center blasted a top right shelf twine-finder for a 2-1 lead only 1:59 into the third 17-minute frame.

Larson, however, utilized a patient approach to even the scoreboard at 2-all with 11:53 remaining in regulation. Larson settled the puck at neutral ice, weaved through traffic to the right circle and belted a rising liner into the top left shelf for a lamp-lighter.

Bruns then took a lead pass from Sanasack, made a left-to-right glide maneuver near the crease and backhanded the puck inside the right pipe for a 3-2 lead with 10:20 showing.

Hannah Goerndt and Larson later combined to erase the Cardinals’ deficit via a 2-on-1 rush. Larson motored down the right wing and flipped a perfect centering pass to a breaking Goerndt for the left-side tap-in prior to the net being knocked off of its mooring with 8:26 left in the game.

Hadley Artz then denied both Bruns and Sanasack access to the webbing via the Storm’s power-play chances during the final 1:59 of the third period.Artz quickly smothered Bruns’ bullet blast off her blocker pad at the 1:15 mark before using her stick to bat away Sanasack’s ice-hugging skidder with only 30 seconds to go.

Artz also received solid defensive support from Corene Moeller, Shaye Dietz and Lily Truesdell to shut out the Storm during the 8-minute overtime despite the visitors’ 6-3 shots-on-goal edge.

“We did a better job of getting the puck on net and working to come away with a number of rebounds,” Householder said in reference to his Cardinals’ 33 shots on net to the Storm’s 44. “Keeping our composure and taking only four penalties instead of 10 really helped our chances, too.”

Ava Breuer finished with 30 saves for the Storm.

Fairmont Area (4-10-3) travels to New Ulm on Tuesday night, while Morris/Benson Area (7-10-1) plays host to Windom Area on Friday night.

MBA           1-0-2-0–3

FMT           0-1-2-0–3

Scoring Plays

1st Period

MBA–Saide Koehler (Aubree Ramirez), PP., 2:06.

2nd Period

FMT–Hannah Goerndt (unassisted), 3:13.

3rd Period

MBA–Karlie Bruns (Kortney Sanasack), 15:01.

FMT–Bella Larson (unassisted), 11:53.

MBA–Karlie Bruns (Kortney Sanasack), 10:20.

FMT–Hannah Goerndt (Bella Larson), 8:26.

Overtime

No scoring.

Shots-on-goal: Morris/Benson Area 16-5-17-6–44; Fairmont Area 9-9-12-3–33.

Saves: Hadley Artz (FMT) 41; Ava Breuer (MBA) 30.

Penalties: Fairmont Area 4 for 8 minutes: MBA 2 for 4 minutes.

Power-play chances: Fairmont Area 0-2; MBA 1-4.